Oversight
How a combination of covid lawsuits and media coverage keeps misinformation churning
Even as the covid-19 pandemic wanes, litigation — whether about vaccines, masks, or a range of other public health policies made during the pandemic — isn’t about to end.
Oversight
Why Trump’s prosecution for keeping secret documents is lawful, constitutional, precedented, nonpartisan and merited
A former national security staffer, now a scholar of secrecy law, says criticisms of Trump’s federal indictment for hoarding classified documents are unfounded.
Oversight
‘Wrongdoing’ likely in USDA maintenance of the nation’s largest agricultural research facility, OSC says
Union leaders said a recent winter flood of a building at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center is just a symptom of systematic mismanagement of the facility.
Oversight
Want to track pandemic relief spending? Data problems make that difficult, committee says
“These challenges limit the degree of transparency into the use of pandemic relief funds,” a new report from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee says.
Oversight
Alaska and 9 other states threaten to sue EPA over wood-burning stove standards
The agency's 2015 standards are inadequately administered and allow substandard devices to be certified, thus creating more pollution and deceiving consumers, court filing argues.
Oversight
Here’s how to fix the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office
The changes must go to the heart of the operation.
Oversight
Deer Park chemical fire in 2019 could have been prevented, federal investigation finds
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board found that the ITC tank farm lacked crucial equipment to warn workers about the failure that led to the three-day fire.
Oversight
Pentagon’s reversal on new travel expense system is “troubling,” key lawmaker says
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said the Pentagon’s decision to terminate a multi-million dollar contract to replace its Defense Travel System “raises broader questions about DOD’s ability to manage its finances and information technology.”
Oversight
As veteran disability claims soar, unaccredited coaches profit off frustration with the VA system
Austin, Texas-based VA Claims Insider says it has helped hundreds of thousands of clients. It has also touched off complaints and investigations.
Oversight
‘These were not normal times’: A former watchdog reflects on COVID-19 oversight
Bob Westbrooks, who first joined the government in 1994, served as executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee for over two years.
Oversight
Americans in former Confederate states more likely to say violent protest against government is justified, 160 years after Gettysburg
Residents of what are known as the Border States, the slave states that did not secede from the Union, are also more likely than residents of Union states to say it can be justifiable to violently protest against the government.
Oversight
The congressional COVID-19 oversight commission is about to sunset
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., is the lone member left on the panel.
Oversight
‘Serious failures’ handling Jeffrey Epstein’s custody highlight the staffing crisis at federal prisons, watchdog says
The Justice Department IG blasted the Bureau of Prisons on many fronts in a new report and the bureau’s director concurred with all the recommendations.
Oversight
GAO: The Defense Department could do more to improve diversity in its civilian workforce
The demographics have only changed a little in the past decade.
Oversight
Democrats call YouTube ‘extremely irresponsible’ for election misinformation rollback
YouTube’s decision to stop removing false content about previous U.S. elections “threatens to weaken our democracy,” several top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said in a letter to the platform’s leaders.
Oversight
Records agency to DHS: Look into your watchdog’s use of text messages
This comes after a hearing two weeks ago that raised concerns among some lawmakers about how the IG uses and retains records of electronic messages.
Oversight
House Votes to Give Agencies Less Leeway in Interpreting Laws
The bill would kill a nearly 40-year Supreme Court precedent.
Oversight
How The Exposure Of Highly Classified Documents Could Harm U.S. Security – And Why There Are Laws Against Storing Them Insecurely
The Espionage Act is much broader than traditional spying and includes the unauthorized possession, storage or disclosure of classified information.
Oversight
Trump Indictments Won’t Keep Him From Presidential Race, But Will Make His Reelection Bid Much Harder
Because the Constitution does not require that the president be free from indictment, conviction or prison, it follows that a person under indictment or in prison may run for the office and may even serve as president.
Oversight